Eyelash curler



Sepft. 9, 1941.A HERNSTEN, 2,255,098

EYELASH CURLER Filed Jan. 29, 1941 INVENTOR Herman Barns z'em A RNEYPatented Sept. .9, 1941 2,255,098 nYELAsn OUBLIER Herman Bernstein,Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application January 29, 1941, Serial No. 376,430

11 Claims.

This invention relates to eyelash curlers and is an improvement Yover myprior Patent #2,214,318, dated September 10, 1940 for Eyelash curler.

In my said prior patent, I have disclosed an eyelash curler in whichmost of the parts are made of sheet metal, the operating arms being ofspring material. Furthermore, the construction of my prior patent hascertain peculiar movements which are not as simple as those of thepresent invention, and said construction also requires that the fingersof the user be positioned in front of the eye during the curlingoperation with consequent partial obstruction of vision.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of acomparatively simple eyelash curler made substantially entirely of sheetmetal and easily operated, but utilizing the spring backed rubber membershown in my prior patent.

The present invention further contemplates the provision of a curlerhaving a comparatively. simple motion permitting the exertion ofconsiderable pressure upon the cooperating jaws to eiect the curlingoperation quickly and without danger of cutting or severing thehairs ofthe eyelashes, the parts being suiciently yieldable inherently and byreason of theirform and mounting to take up any excess pressurewithinthedevice without danger of injury or breakage.

The invention further contemplates the provision of means for adequatelysupporting the yieldable curling insert for one oi the jaws o f thedevice so that danger of cutting the hairs is minimized.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the descriptionwhich follows and from the drawing, in which,

Fig. l is a side elevation of the curler showing in dash-dot lines thepositions assumed by the lower jaw and its operating handle mechanismprior to the insertion of the eyelash between the jaws.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the lower jaw.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the jaws taken on the line 4 4 of Fig.2. In the practical embodiment of the invention shown by way of example,the curler consists generally of the respective upper or fixed jaw Ill,the lower or movable jaw II, comparatively simple means to reciprocatethe lower jaw toward and from the fixed jaw to press the eyelashtherebetween, and a yieldable insert consisting of a spring backed stripof rubber removably arranged in the lower jaw and Of. th@ WPS. de"

(on. isz- 32) scribed and shown in my said prior patent. The xed jaw I0constitutes the upper transverse member of the frame I2 of polygonalshape, said frame being formed integrally with the elongated f extensionor arm I3 terminating at its lower end in the integral linger loop I4.

The parts I0, I2, I3 and I4 are all suitably stamped and bent from asingle piece 0f comparatively thin sheet metal preferably spring metal,whereby the parts may yield to a certain extent when excess pressure isput thereupon so that the pressure upon the eyelash does not becomeexcessive. The upper jaw therefore is y comparatively wide throughoutthe greater portion of its length so as to be comparatively rigid duringthe curling operation and under normal pressures, but at its extremitiessaid upper orr fixed jaw is reduced in width at its juncture with theadjacent depending members I'I, I8 of the frame I2 to leavecomparatively narrow connecting members as I9 between the ends of theupper jaw and the frame members I'I, I8, and formedl by the recesses I5,I6. At their lower ends the depending members I'I, I8 are joined byinclinedv members as 20, ZI to the lower transverse member 22 of theframev I2. The members II, I8, 20 and 2| are made narrower than the jawIIJ,

whereby not only mayl the jaw yield relativelyv to the side members I1and I8 by reason of the reduced connecting parts I9, but therentireframe may also yield to some extent relatively to its arm I3 underexcess pressure put thereupon.

It will be noted, as best seen in Fig. 1, that the extension or arm I3projects upwardly as at 23'v 'beyond the frame member 22 into the space24 inside of the frame I2 to some extent. The projection 23 is providedwith a longitudinally arranged guide slot 25. A similar slot 25' isprovided in the arm I3 considerably below the slot 25, said slots beingsubstantially parallel and in substantial alignment.A Outstanding atsubstantially right angles from the respective side edgesof thearm I3are the reinforcing flangesA 26, 27 which aid in imparting rigidity tosaid arm and may also serve, as will be later explained in detail, toguide the lower jaw in its reciprocatory movement.

Said lower jaw is preferably somewhat narrower than the upper jaw, bothbeing made con- Vex outwardly, however, in the customary manner. The`lower jaw is joined by the inclined frame members 28, 29 tothe lowertransverse member 3Ito form a jaw frame, similar to the upper jaw frameI2, capable of slight distortion under excess pressures in the mannerabove described in connection with the frame I2. Depending from thecross member 38 of the lower jaw frame is the integral extension or arm3|, whereby the lower jaw, its frame and said arm' may be stamped,pressed and bent from a single piece of comparatively thin spring sheetmetal. The arm 3l is inserted between the flanges 26 and 21 of the armI3 and in face to face relation with said arm and reciprocatesvertically therebetween as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2 to carry the lowerjaw toward and from the upper jaw. To constrain the lower jaw to move inthe desired straight line path, the extension 3i carries the spaced pins32 and 33 passing through the respective slots 25 and 25' of the arm I3.Said pins are each headed as shown to prevent separation of the arms I3and 3I from each other.

As has been hereinbefore indicated, suitable means are provided to movethe lower jaw. As shown, said means comprises the bell-crank-lever 35,preferably made of thin spring sheet metal and provided at one end withthe finger loop 35. Said lever is pivotally supported as by means of thepivotl pin 31 passing through the supporting lug 38 outstanding atsubstantially right angles from an edge of the arm I3. The outer end ofsaid lug is spaced a suiiicient distance from the arms I3 and 3l toprovide a crank arm 39 on the bell-crank-lever of sufficient length toimpart the desired stroke to the movable arm 3l operating the lower jaw.

Outstanding integrally from an edge of said arm 3l and adjacent to andsubstantially parallel to the lug 38 is the apertured lug 40 providedwith the opening or slot 4I into which is inserted the operating endpart 42 bent from the lever portion 39. Said end part 42l is preferablyof reduced width compared to that of the crank arm 39, but isnevertheless of sufficient strength to impart the required pressure tothe lug 40 as the bell-crank-lever 35 is swung about its pivot in theproper direction to press the lower jaw I I against the upper jaw I 8.It will be noted that the iinger loops I4 and 36 are below the eye anddo not interfere with vision during the curling operation and that theuser can also see through the interior of the frames of the jaws.

The lower jaw is provided with a series of comparatively short, spacedand inwardly directed lugs 45 at substantially right angles to the faceof said jaw and on which the removable yieldable member 48 forming partof the lowerV jaw may rest. Said member 48 consists of the rubber strip41 which is suitably bonded with and thereby secured to the metallicbacking strip 48 in a known manner. The strip 48 is preferably of thinspring metal and quite iiexible so that the parts 41 and 48 of saidmember 4B comprise substantially one integral piece bendable as a unitfor easy insertion into the jaw -when required. It will be noted thatthe metallic spring strip 48 is arranged with its face substantially incontact with the inner face of the movable jaw II (Fig. 4). The endparts of the jaw II are bent into the form shown in Fig. 3 firstinwardly away from the face of the jaw and then parallel thereto to formthe bent ends 49 on the jaws II and to provide an end space or groove as5D for the reception of the respective end parts of the member 4B. Toprevent the backing strip 48 from rising out of its proper position whenthe upper jaw I0 presses on the rubber portion 41 of the insert by thesqueezing action of the jaw on the rubber strip, a short lug 5I projectsinwardly from the top edge of the jaw II and overhangs said strip 48without, however, overhanging the rubber strip or interfering with themovement of the jaw I8. I have found that no means other than the lugs45, 49 and 5I on the jaws II are needed to maintain the removable member48 in its proper place in the jaw II, and that even the lug 5I may bedispensed with if desired.

The member 46 being arranged in the lower jaw, its ends being in thespaces 58 and the metallic strip 48 being against the face of the jawand the upper edge of said metallic strip being underneath the lug5I,the device is ready for operation. It will be noted that it iscomparatively easy for unskilled persons to replace the member 46 whenworn, cut or when it becomes aged and not suiiciently resilient, thespring backing 48 making the handling of the member and its manipulationa simple matter. The bell-crank-lever having been moved to the dash-dotposition of Fig. 1 to space the jaws I8 and I I apart, the curler ismoved to the front of the eye to arrange the eyelash between the jaws,and the finger loops I4 and 36 then pressed toward each other. The crankarm 39 is thereby vrotated in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig.

1, the end 42 pressing the lug 4I upwardly and consequently moving thearm 3| and the jaw II upwardly until the lower edge of the jaw I0 isimbedded in the rubber strip 41 thereby to curl the eyelash. The rubberstrip yields during the last part of the movement, but if the operatorexerts greater force upon the finger loops sufcient to overcome theresistance of the jaws and their frames, the jaw I8 may yield at thereduced parts I9 thereof and the frame for the jaw II may also yieldsomewhat, while the spring arms I3, and 3| may be bent somewhat towardeach other. This take-up or yielding action is sufcient to prevent theeyelash from being cut or injured under excessive pressures. Byseparating the finger loops I4 and 35, the eyelash is released, the arm3| being guided in its movement by 'the pins 32 and 33 moving in theslots 25', 25 as well as by the flanges 26, 21 engaging the edges of thearm, if desired. There is no necessity for any other guiding means andhence the frame for the jaw I'I is completely free of the members I1 andI8 of the frame I2 and is not prevented from yielding relatively theretounder excessr pressures.

It will be seen that I have provided a simple structure designed foreconomical manufacture and capable of performing the purposes intended.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of the invention,I do not intend to be understood as limiting myself thereto, but intendto claim the invention as broadly as may be permitted by the state ofprior art and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an eyelash curler, a comparatively wide upper jaw having end partsreduced in width, frame members depending from the reduced end parts andforming an integral rst frame therewith, an elongated first armextending integrally and downwardly from the frame and having a portionextending upwardly within the frame,

.said arm having a pair of spaced aligned slots therein, a secondframe'within the iirst frame and including a lower jaw, a second armextending downwardly from the second frame and in face to face relationto the rst arm, guide pins secured to the second arm and passing throughsaid slots, a yieldable member removably held by the lower jaw andcomprising a rubber strip and a metallic backing strip, a face of thebacking strip being arranged in contact with the adjacent face of thelower jaw, a slotted member outstanding integrally at right angles tothe second arm at an edge thereof, a bearing member outstandingintegrally at substantially right angles to the first arm at acorresponding edge thereof adjacent the slotted member and longer thanthe slotted member, and a bell-crank-lever pivoted to the bearing memberand having a bent lug inserted into the slot of the slotted member toreciprocate the arms rela-tively to each other.

2. In an eyelash curler, a pair of jaw frames of polygonal shape, eachhaving a transverse jaw member, an arm extending from each of theframes, said arms being arranged in face to face relation, one of thearms having spaced slots therein, guide means for the arms comprising apair of spaced pins on the other arm entering the slots of the slottedarm, and means for reciprocating the arms relatively to each othercomprising a pair of apertured members each outstanding integrally froma corresponding edge ci one of the arms and adjacent each other, and abellmembers at the aperture thereof and having aY projection enteringthe aperture of the other member.

3. In an eyelash curler, a pair of curved cooperating jaws, an elongatedarm for each jaw extending in a direction parallel to the axes of thejaws, each of said arms being integrally joined to a corresponding oneof the jaws, one of said arms having a pair of spaced aligned slotstherein and the other having similarly spaced pins passing through theslots, said arms being arranged in face to face relation, and means toreciprocate said arms relatively to each other to move the jaws.alternately together and apart, said means comprising abell-crank-lever pivoted to an outstanding extension of said one of thearms and terminating in a bent lug entering the slot of a slottedextension outstanding from the other arm.

4. In an eyelash curler having curved cooperating jaws, a pair of armsarranged in face to face relation, one of said arms being integrallyconnected to one of the jaws and the other arm being integrallyconnected to the other jaw, one of the arms being slotted and the otherbeing provided with pins passing through the slots of the one arm, eachof the arms having an apertured edge extension, and a bell-crank-leverpivoted to the extension of one arm and terminating in a lug enteringthe aperture of the other extension.

5. In an eyelash curler, a pair of jaw frames one normally within theother and each having an upper transverse jaw member, the end parts ofthe jaw member of the outer frame being substantially reduced in widthto permit yielding of the jaw member under excessive pressure putthereupon by the other jaw member, and means for moving the memberstoward and from each other comprising a flat elongated arm extendingfrom each frame, cooperating guide means on the arms, abell-crank-lever, a support outstanding from one of the arms andextending beyond both of the arms, said lever being pivoted to thesupport, an apertured extension outstanding from the other arm, and abent end on the bellcrank-lever arranged in the aperture of the eX-tension to reciprocate said extension and said other arm on theoscillation of the lever.

transverse curved jaw, the jaw of the larger frame being reduced inwidth at its end parts, there being a space around the smaller frame andbetween the frames whereby said frames are free of each other, meansbeyond the frames for guiding the frames in the relative reciprocatorymovement thereof including a pair of iiat extensions one on each frame,and means for relatively reciprocating the frames comprising abell-cranklever carried by one of the arms and having a projectionoutstanding laterally therefrom, and an apertured extension outstandinglaterally from the other arm and receiving the projection.

'7. In an eyelash curler, a pair of jaw frames mounted independently ofeach other and each including a jaw, a rubber strip backed with a metalstrip inserted into one of the jaws with the metal strip in contact withsaid one jaw, spaced bottom lugs on said one jaw to hold the strip inplace, means at the upper edge of said one jaw to engage the metal stripand to prevent said strip from lifting out of the jaw, means forrelatively reciprocating said frames, an extension on each of saidframes, one part of the extension on one frame projecting in onedirection from a point in spaced relation to the jaw thereof toward saidjaw, and another part of said last-mentioned extension projecting-in theopposite direction away from said last-mentioned jaw, and means on saidextensions for guiding the frames in a reciprocatory straight line path.

8. In an eyelash curler, a pair of jaw frames mounted independently ofeach other, an extension on one of the frames projecting beyond said oneframe and also extending inwardly thereof, an extension on the otherframe in face to face relation with the extension of said one frame,cooperating guide means on said extensions, means on said extensions forrelatively reciprocating said frames, said other frame including a jawhaving end grooves and also having spaced bottom lugs and provided withan inwardly bent portion at its upper edge, and a yieldable stripinserted in the grooves of said jaw and against said lugs and underneathsaid projection, said strip comprising a rubber strip and a backingmetal strip of spring material secured thereto, said metal strip beingarranged in contact with a face of the jaw.

9. In an eyelash curler, a first one-piece sheet metal arm having a pairof spaced slots therein and terminating at one end in an upper jaw andat the other end in a iinger loop, a second onepiece arm having anapertured lug outstanding therefrom and terminating in a cooperatinglower jaw, a bell-crank-lever pivoted to an extension of the rst arm andterminating at one end in a bent lug inserted into the aperture of theapertured lug and terminating at the other end in a nger loop, said armsbeing arranged in face to face relation, spaced guide pins on the secondarm passing through the respective slots of the rst arm, and a metalbacked rubber strip arranged in the lower jaw with the metal backthereof against a face of said jaw.

10. In an eyelash curler, an upper polygonal jaw frame surrounding aninterior space therein, an upper jaw forming the uppermost side of saidframe, a lower polygonal jaw frame, a lower jaw forming the uppermostside of said lower frame, a rubber member removably carried by the lowerjaw, bell-crank-lever means for moving one of.

the frames relatively to the other in a rectilinear 6. In an eyelashcurler, a pair of jaw frames' one larger than the other and each havinga` path, and means for guiding said frames for such movement and foralso supporting the lower jaw frame in the operative and inoperativepositions thereof, said last-mentioned means including a slottedextension arranged at the center line of the lower side of the upper jawframe, said eX- tension projecting partway toward the upper part of saidupper jaw frame and into the space thereof, and iorming an incompletepartition therein, said extension being provided with a longitudinalslot therein, and a pin terminating at a point closely adjacent theuppermost end of said extension fixed in the lower side of the lower jawframe and slidably mounted in said slot.

11. In an eyelash curler, an annular upper jaw frame having a fixedslotted extension projecting upwardly from the mid-point of thelowermost part thereof partway toward the top thereof, a lower jaw framemovable vertically within the upper jaw frame, a pin on the lower jawframe arranged in the slot of the extension, a lower substantially flatelongated arm projecting downwardly from the bottom parts of each ofsaid frames, said arms being of greater width than thickness andarranged in face to face relation, the arm of the lower jaw frame havinga recess therein, a bell-crank-lever pivoted to the arm of the upper jawframe, and a projection on the lever entering the recess to reciprocatesaid frames relatively on the swinging movement of said lever, saidfixed extension supporting and guiding the lower jaw frame during saidreciprocation.

HERMAN BERNSTEIN.

